Equestrian Life Magazine September Issue 220 | Page 46

Get Started in
Dressage to Music
Dressage to Music has enjoyed an
explosion in popularity since the
London Olympics, but for many
riders, putting together their first
floor plan and choosing then editing
music is more than a little daunting,
so we asked two experts for their
advice.
List 1 judge, grand prix rider and
trainer Sue Carson explains how to
work out your floor plan and music
guru Julie Geraghty of Equivisions
Dressage gives an insight into how
to choose your music so that you can
confidently

Your Floorplan
“Developing a floor plan is
very similar at any level of
dressage”, says Sue Carson, “but
at the lower levels, preliminary,
novice and elementary, it is
better - and easier - to make it
symmetrical.
“Every level has a set of
compulsory movements you have
to perform and you need to make
these obvious, so don’t ‘bury’
them in other movements. They
need to stand out just as if you
waved a flag and said ‘hello judge,
I’m about to do this..... ‘
“The second thing to remember
is that simple floor plans are
always the best. Your horse may
be capable of work at a higher
level, but the degree of difficulty
can sometimes be too much. The
judge is, after all, playing ‘spot the
movement’ so make it obvious
what you’re doing.
“It’s very important to do things
your horse is comfortable with
and that you can present well. For
example, I know how many steps
it is from when my music starts to
when I halt at the start of the test;
things like that will improve your
presentation enormously.
“Personally, I trot into the arena,
halt and then don’t worry about
the music until I’m in the vicinity
of a transition, as I know it will
keep playing! When you’re
planning transitions, remember

46

it’s easier not to plan them at a
given letter and I much prefer to
do them on the short side.
“You’ve also got to have ‘bolt
holes’ and in my floor plans, walk
is always a bolt hole. I ride a dog
leg in the middle of the arena and
can change it to catch up with
the music when I need to. Every
surface rides differently and some
machines may play at a slightly
different speed - and the arena
may be shortish, as not every
venue is a full 60 metres.
“Once you’ve started to compete,
it’s always a good idea to ask
other riders at a competition if
they have too much music or not
enough music, so you can adjust
your test, using the pr e-planned
‘bolt holes’, to make it work on
the day.
“My final piece of advice would
be to ensure you don’t make the
music too complicated and leave
the chunks together so that it
doesn’t sound ‘bitty’.”

The Judge’s
Viewpoint
As a List 1 judge, Sue Carson
enjoys judging dressage to music
right up to grand prix and has
some simple advice on how to
maximise your marks:1. Make sure the music you
choose enhances your horse,

but remember that the lower
level tests don’t allow you to
be as artistic as is possible at
the higher levels, because you
only have certain movements
to work with.
2. The best marks are earned
from floor plans that use the
whole arena, presented to
music with a beat that fits the
horse, but isn’t too ‘busy’.
3. Make sure you ride forwards
and think where you are
going. Don’t get so tuned in
to your music that you forget
to ride the horse. Try to plan
something in your music - a
bang or beat - that indicates
when you have a transition
approaching, i.e. ‘we stop
cantering in three strides’.
This is because when you first
start riding tests to music,
you ideally need very clear
‘instructions’ from your music.
4. The music you choose (three
tracks: one each for walk,
trot and canter) needs to be
of a similar theme or your
test won’t hang together
particularly nicely. Think of it
as trying to tell a story.
5. Like everyone else, judges
have personal taste, but we
do try not to let that affect our
judgement. I like any music
that makes you smile and
entertains you, as that’s what
dressage to music should
be - entertaining. I don’t like
funeral march music, but if it
fits the horse, it wouldn’t earn
a rubbish mark. For me, the
music should also make the
rider smile.

Choosing Your Music
With over 32,000 pieces of music
in the Equivisions Dressage
database to choose from, Julie
Geraghty is able to produce
winning music for horse and rider
combinations at every level.
So which way round does she
prefer to work? Floor plan first
then music or should the music
be chosen first?
“We can do it either way. Some
clients ask for a piece of music
after they’ve worked out a floor
plan, but either way, I ask riders
to send me a video of them riding
walk, trot and canter and say if
they perhaps want music of a
certain genre (type). We then
sample some music options over
their video and they can watch
then choose what they like.
“I know from experience what
level of test needs what length of
music for each pace to fit in all the
compulsory movements and the
time limit for the whole test.

“It’s usual at preliminary level to
present the trot work, then canter,
followed by walk, with a short trot
section to finish and at novice
and elementary levels, to trot,
walk, then canter, with a short trot
to finish, but at the higher levels,
many riders prefer to canter first.
It does also depend on your
horse’s strengths and weaknesses,
so if canter can improve the trot,
then canter first.
“We find the most successful
tests are the ones where you
keep all the work on both
reins together and have as few
transitions between paces as
possible. Judges like it to be easy,
symmetrical and the compulsory
movements need to be very
obvious.
“We can design floor plans, but if
you have worked one out and are
only struggling with music - and a
lot of people just aren’t musical we’ll make suggestions as to what
music will work.
“The genre of music I choose
is influenced by the type of
horse. People do have their own
thoughts about what might suit,
but it’s not always the case. You
need music that enhances the
horse’s way of going and the
tempo has to be correct. You’re
looking for music that makes the
hair stand up on the back of your
neck - and as an example of that,
at every clinic I do, there will be
at least one person in tears when
they see their horse on video
going to music!
“To simplify things, according to
British Dressage (BD) rules, the
tempo (time signature) of the
music should fit to the footfalls.
Don’t try to over-complicate
things when choosing music,
just pick out what’s called
‘the dominant downbeat’; the
beat you would tap your foot
to - which is commonly called
the rhythm of the music. In an
ideal world, you try to match
the proper rhythm to each pace,
but canter is difficult - is it three
beats or four beats counting the
moment of suspension? But if
you keep it as simple as what you
would tap your foot to, you’ll be
able to pick out the dominant
time signature and then decide if
it works.
“Don’t use complex music; for
example Spanish music is not
always suitable for Spanish horses
- they are quick and busy and so
is Spanish music. Lyrics are fine
the BD rules say, ‘as long as they
don’t distract from the dressage’.
Lyrics can in fact be quite apt,
for example for pony types that
are bouncy and bubbly, but my
personal preference is not to
overdo it. I don’t like lyrics in the
tracks used for all three paces.

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